ST. CLAIRSVILLE ­– Softite Community Federal Credit Union gifted teenagers in the Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services foster care program tickets to Kennywood Amusement Park to be used on June 14.

“We have a handful of teenagers in our care, and they’re all in foster homes, and they don’t get to do a lot of different activities and things like that. So I wanted to put something together where we’re taking the teens to an amusement park,” Belmont County Job and Family Services Foster Care Caseworker Ed Braun said.

He added that once he got approval by DJFS Director Jeff Felton, he then reached out to Softite to see if it would be interested in covering the cost of tickets for the teens.

Braun said that Softite jumped at the opportunity to cover the cost of the 18 teens going to Kennywood.

“The credit union tries to be a part of the community, and ways of giving back would be donating tickets for Job and Family Services to take their teens on a nice trip,” Softite Community Federal Credit Union Supervisor Julie Parker said. “That’s what we like doing. We like to be a part of the community and see where we can help people, because the credit union’s philosophy is, ‘people helping people.”

Although this is the first time Braun has organized an event of this nature he said that he is planning to continue to put trips similar together.

“I’m wanting to take the little kids in our care and their foster parents to either Columbus or Pittsburgh Zoo. So in the fall, I think I’m going to put something together like that,” he said.

In addition to the price of the tickets being covered, Braun said that he plans to receive donations to help the teens buy a souvenir from the trip.

“I have it in my head that each kid needs about $70 to buy a shirt and snacks,” he said.

Braun added that he wants to show the kids that his organization cares and that it wants to help them succeed.

“I don’t want the kids to, and I don’t know how else to say it, but like, they’re not just thrown into a foster home and forgotten about,” he said.